RV Sales was named the 2024 Albuquerque Journal Readers’ Choice Award winner in the Best RV Dealership category.
This is the first year the newspaper included an RV Dealership category. The annual contest is more than 20 years old.
Valerie Chowning, RV Sales’ president and owner, said, “We are absolutely thrilled, honored, and humbled to receive this recognition from the readers of the Albuquerque Journal. It is especially meaningful because our dealership is a small, multi-generational and locally owned business located in little ol’ Moriarty. It demonstrates that consumers are appreciative of the personal service that many larger dealerships don’t provide.”
Chowning’s parents, Ralph and Kathy Chowning, opened RV Sales in Albuquerque in 1982. Kathy Chowning’s parents previously ran an RV dealership in Albuquerque. The couple moved the business to Moriarty in 1988.
RV Sales carried Peterson Industries’ Excel luxury fifth wheel. The dealership was Peterson Industries’ top seller for nearly 15 years until the manufacturer closed in 2015.
Valerie Chowning said, “People came from hundreds and thousands of miles to purchase Excel RVs from us.”
In 2015, Ralph and Kathy Chowning began turning RV Sales over to Valerie Chowning and her brother, Clayton, who share various responsibilities.
“They are officially retired,” Valerie Chowning said of her parents, “but we still call upon them for assistance from time-to-time and they are always happy to help.”
Among RV Sales’ traditions are its annual Halloween Trick-or-Trailer event. The dealership has hosted the event since 1993. While attendees enjoy the Halloween decorations and collect treats at each trailer, their $1 admission fee or one non-perishable food item per person is donated to the community.
